After a gruelling and arduous, yet thoroughly enjoyable couple of weeks, I have finally succeeded (for the most part) in sorting through the minifigs from the black box. As you’ll remember, from pt1, I had pulled out most of the minifig parts from the job lot and was sorting through them to see what was there. I have sorted enough now and I’m ready to log the figures and parts that I have found.
To start with, I’d like to say that this has been a pretty good job lot. By my count I have managed to get 26 full or partial figures that I am keen to add to my collection. That being said, I can only shed a tear over the lost figures that must have once been in the collection of whomever owned this Lego before me, there are many figures or parts that are only in a few or a single set that would have included some fabulous figures if they were complete.
The first and foremost of these is the Captain Barbossa Peg-leg figure I mentioned in the first part. After finding his torso and sorting through the minifigs I had, I thought it was best to give the job lot a thorough going over. So I brought it all downstairs, tipped it out onto the rug and went through a handful at a time picking out each and every minifig part I could find. As I went through this painstaking process what should I find in the palm of my hand but a peg leg, a pair of peg legs, no a single peg leg and a normal leg on a set of hips, Barbossa’s legs. I was quite chuffed and dropped them in the box of minifig parts. Then, whilst sorting through the parts I found a hat. Yep, Barbossa’s hat. That was 3/4 of his minifig parts. Unfortunately no amount of further searching has turned up his head. But I’m pretty pleased with the rest of him. I’ll have to brick link the head. Oh, I also found the torso and legs for a Jack Sparrow – but I have a Captain Jack already. I never did find any sign of Black Beard.
Super Heroes
I have many super hero figures, almost enough to fill up an entire frame, so I wasn’t too disappointed that the Super Heroes figures in this job lot are all ones I already own. From Left to right I found Zod, Batman, Superman, Robin & Hawkeye as full figures. I also found partial parts of Bruce Wayne, Iron Man, another Hawkeye and the Riddler. There is also a Joker’s head and hair somewhere but these are figures I already have, so nothing to get too excited about.
Toy Story
The Toy Story figures are a rare breed, the theme didn’t run for very long (maybe it will come back with Toy Story 4 due out this summer) and they have a few figures that are exceedingly tall, certainly Woody is. I know that some of the figures are very rare, I once spotted some at a car boot sale in London but I wasn’t willing to pay £14 for a single figure (afterwards I checked Bricklink and found that £14 was quite reasonable). I do have a full Woody, a Buzz lightyear and also an Alien somewhere. I did find, in this job lot, two green army men. I think they have a two variants but I’ll need a medic’s hat to make up a different figure. They are quite nice and will certainly help flesh out my small Toy Story collection.
Ninjago
I am not a big fan of Ninjago. The film is in my collection but I still haven’t watched it all (my daughter’s attention span never seems to get past the first hour) and I don’t think the figures are all that special, some of the villains are pretty weird and the Sensei is cool. Never-the-less they are all minifigures. I found a few in this job lot, I borrowed a white hood from my existing parts to complete Zane and I still need a hat for the sensei but these aren’t the worst figs.
Star Wars
Ignoring entirely what I said in my previous blog, the star wars figures are some of the coolest out there. I wasn’t blown away by the figures I found in this lot and I still have a bunch of heads that I think are from the clone wars figures. I found a bunch of storm troppers, these weren’t anything new I wasn’t that fussed with them. Maybe the yellow armed guy was unique but it wasn’t until I was working my way through the remaining heads and trying to match them up with figures that I discovered one of them was Han solo. When I looked the head up on Bricklink I discovered this head is used in 9 different Han figures, and one of them was the Storm Trooper Han. This is cool as I have the Luke Storm Trooper so it would help make a nice pair. One of the Storm trooper bodies I found was the right match for Han so I borrowed a hair piece from my existing spares and made up a Han fig. On further examination the figure the head probably belonged too was a torso that was badly chewed, so much better to use the head and storm trooper body.
Prince of Persia
I’m just going to come out and say it, the game is good, the film is poor and the minifigs are meh. That said I already have a Dastan and a Princess Tamina so not finding their heads doesn’t bother me, but those are the only figures from this theme that I do have…until now. Whilst searching through bricklink to match torsos I managed to find one that was only in 3 minifigs, all of them from the Prince of Persia theme. I searched the heads and sure enough one of them was a match. It isn’t a well known figure, if I’m honest I can’t recall it from the entirely forgettable film, but the Alamut Merchant is a genuine figure. I still have to source the white head scarf (I do have it in black) before he is complete but it is another good figure.
Indiana Jones
You will recall that my best find so far has been the torso for the airplane mechanic from Indiana Jones. I took the head from a Star Wars calendar figure to make the whole thing complete. It isn’t anything too special but I did find some German soldier torsos. I thought I had the head but the eyebrows didn’t quite match up. I didn’t find any hats. I already have 1 of the 5 possible German Soldiers (yeah, I thought I had nearly completed this theme too) so the two torsos I found will help me move towards a few more. I might be lucky and find a correct head in my spares but I’m not holding out. Oh, and there is also a Marion’s head and hair but I have these anyway, the mechanic is enough of a find to make me happy with this lot.
Lord of the Rings
When my wife first brought this job lot home in the week leading up to my birthday, she couldn’t help but go through the Lego and was concerned that it wasn’t all proper Lego. It wasn’t, but that doesn’t matter. She found a pair of legs that didn’t look right to her and wanted to show me to confirm that they were indeed Lego. They are a pair of short legs, hobbit legs to be precise. I saw them attached to a torso (which I think may have gone missing since) that got my hopes up. I was the legs and torso of Samwise Gamgee. When I went through the lego I found pieces that were only in the Shelob attacks set which included Samwise and Frodo so I thought I might complete my hobbits and get Sam. Unfortunately I can’t find the torso, I have the head and the hair and the little legs, but not the torso. I have made up a Frodo torso but that is one I have already. The really good news is that, whilst searching through hundreds of heads to try and match the unknown ones, I stumbled upon a Rohan Solider. I was very excited and, upon further inspection, I had his legs and his torso and his helmet. A full figure, quite a rare one. Only found in the Uruk-hai army set, which would explain the several Uruk-hai I also found. This set includes one more character – Eomer. Would you believe I found his head and his legs, no torso and no sign of that golden painted helmet, but those pieces can be easily sourced. I also found most of Gimli, only missing his head, but I have Gimli already. When I found the Rohan solider I was really very happy. The Lord of the rings theme is quite large and I have many of them. I am working on getting the whole fellowship (Samwise!) so adding a few of the other human figures is always good.
Harry Potter
Probably the best represented theme in this job lot are the Harry Potter figures, but they are mixed bunch. On one hand there are the figures from the Burrows set which are only missing a head, a hairpiece and a pair of legs to make up three unique figures (Bellatrix, Molly & Ginny), not including the two full figures I have from this set in Arthur and Fenrir. On the other hand I find only parts of the Dobby set, an most, but not all, of Lucius Malfoy. I have Ernie Prang from the Knight Bus set but, although I found a purple hat, I couldn’t find Stan Shunpike’s head or torso – I might use the purple legs in my Monofig collection. I found two quidditch uniforms and assumed they were Harry and Draco, but then upon searching through the heads I found one with a noticeably different smile. I checked on the old trusty bricklink and found that the head in question was for Oliver Wood. What a result. I guess the green top could be Marcus Flint but I couldn’t find his head. Then to top it off I found torso of Madame Hooch. I was pleased with this even though her head is definitely not here (it is too obvious to miss) and her hair is missing it was quite a good figure. Add that to all the other bits and pieces of Harry Potter figures and I feel that this job lot has been a resounding success.
Conclusion
I am an advocate for buying job lots of Lego. Recycling the old collections of people who have sadly entered their dark ages, rescuing discarded Minifigs from the torment of pen and chew marks, is a noble cause. I haven’t had a job lot for a while (not since before the kids were born) but I’m back with this one and I’m very pleased with it. The Lego itself isn’t too impressive, mostly mixed up and incomplete, but the figures are something special. I didn’t expect to get so many rare and sought after figs for my collection. I’m particularly pleased with the Weasleys, the airplane mechanic, Han solo and the Rohan Solider. By my calculations, with a mere 16 parts to source off bricklink I will have 26 new figures for my collection. Probably not worth the price my wife paid for the Lego but don’t forget that I have had hours of fun searching through them on the hunt for minifigs, and lots of new spare parts for my collection.
My next post will be diving into the big blue bag. I’m really exciting by this as the previous owner seemed to keep the sets fairly well sorted so hopefully this one produces some good sets to build and display along with a host of new minifigs. At this rate I’m going to need a place to display my figures, maybe some kind of front opening frame. I wonder where I could get one of those, maybe my wife knows.
